After significant cuts to school budgets and curriculum offerings that directly affected their experience in the classroom, young people in Lowell, Massachusetts began to lobby for their inclusion in municipal elections, including the school board, by lowering the voting age to 17 for local ballots. The United Teen Equality Center (UTEC) helped students raise the issue to the Lowell City Council and later to the Massachusetts State Legislature. The proposal eventually failed to pass the state legislature their argument resonated with many, as other people continue to champion the cause including Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley.

Document E

An excerpt from “Mass. Teens Inch Closer to Lowering the Voting Age to 17” published by ABC News, April 18, 2012.

“When 17-year-old Carline Kirksey went knocking on doors around her hometown of Lowell, Mass. last summer, seeking support for a measure to lower the voting age, many of her neighbors were surprised to learn she wasn't just selling Girl Scout cookies.

"Nowadays Kirksey is walking the halls of the Massachusetts state house, lobbying lawmakers to allow her classmates – kids too young to set foot in a nightclub – to step into a voting booth and cast a ballot… Kirksey and her peers, organized by the United Teen Equality Center, may be on the verge of voting in municipal elections in Lowell… But success still could be a long way off. The measure, backed by the Lowell city council, requires passage in the Massachusetts legislature, and then a referendum by city residents. If passed, high school seniors will be allowed to vote only in Lowell municipal elections, not in state or federal sweepstakes… The bill recently passed committee, but still needs a vote by the state's full house… Neither history, nor time is on the students' side. Similar initiatives in Baltimore [Maryland] and Cambridge, Mass. were unsuccessful and the legislature may find it has more pressing business than voting on a home-rule initiative focused on one town, said Geoff Foster, UTEC's political action organizer. Moreover, the state's secretary of state opposes the initiative, writing a letter to lawmakers telling them the bill violates the state constitution.”

Document F

An excerpt from Representative Ayanna Pressley’s Remarks on Lowering the Voting Age. Delivered on the floor of the House of Representatives on March 7^th, 2019.

“As prepared for Delivery

"… I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 1, the For the People Act… My amendment to H.R. 1 strikes at one of the fundamental goals of this legislation by ensuring that those who have a stake in our democracy will also have a say in our democracy. By lowering the voting age from eighteen to sixteen years of age, my amendment would allow young people to have a say in our federal elections, to help shape and inform the policies that will set the course for the future. From gun violence, to immigration reform, to climate change, to the future of work - our young people are organizing, mobilizing and calling us to action. They are at the forefront of social and legislative movements and have earned inclusion in our democracy. Beginning at the age of sixteen, young people are contributing to both the labor force and their local economies by paying income taxes, and yet they are deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote… Some have questioned the maturity of our youth. I don’t. A sixteen-year-old in 2019 possesses a wisdom and a maturity that comes from 2019 challenges, hardships, and threats. A sixteen-year-old will bring with them the 2019 fears that their father’s insulin will run out before the next paycheck. A seventeen-year-old will bring with them the 2019 hopes to be the first in their family to earn a college degree. A sixteen-year-old will bring with them the 2019 lessons they learned picking up shifts waiting tables to support their family while their mother was deployed. A seventeen-year-old will bring with them a 2019 solemn vow to honor the lives of their classmates stolen by a gunman. And now is the time for us to demonstrate 2019 courage that matches the challenges of the modern-day sixteen and seventeen year old."